Chapter Thirteen
Gabriel
I stalked through the manor house, seeking Eve.
She wasn’t here. She wasn’t anywhere.
Frustration turned to alarm. Had she left? Had she waited until I was away and then vanished?
My heart pounded unevenly in my chest, and I could feel the ayim pulsing through my bloodstream. What had I done? Why didn’t she wish to stay with me? I’d thought we were doing so well together.
I finally stalked down the corridor and onto the minstrel’s gallery. My wings vibrated against my spine, where I had them tightly pressed. “EVE!” I bellowed. My voice echoed across the empty Great Hall.
What if she hadn’t left on purpose? What if something had happened to her?
What if she’d gone looking for me while I was still with Castiel?
I grabbed hold of the wooden railing and launched over the edge.
My wings snapped halfway open as I dropped to the ground.
I landed in a crouch, one palm flat to the stone floor.
I charged through the servants’ wing until I found her room.
It was a small, chilled place with a very strange wooden box holding a bed inside.
I jerked the carved door open and peered inside.
She wasn’t there. Heart pounding, I scanned the room.
Her valise and trunk still lined the wall by the empty fireplace.
My concern turned to fear. She hadn’t planned to leave. Where is she?
Lightning cracked outside, and a roll of thunder rumbled above Mirkwold. My head shot up. I had smelled rain on the air while I flew back to the manor, but usually rain showers were that—showers. Lightning and thunder didn’t often come this time of year.
What if she’s out in this?
Without thought, I ran out of her chamber and for the window at the end of the upstairs hall. I hit the stone wall, frantically grappling with the window latch. It was tall but narrow. I threw open the window and a gust of cold, wet wind hit my face.
“EVE!” I shoved my shoulders through. Rain hit my face like needles.
Gritting my teeth, I twisted and worked until I wrenched my wings into the night air.
The arches throbbed from the rough treatment, and I wouldn’t be surprised if feathers littered the floor below the window sill.
I shot into the air, ignoring the strain of muscles and aching ligaments.
I peered into the darkness but didn’t see Eve.
I circled Mirkwold with slow strokes, staying near the ground, but didn’t see her. Fear set my wings alight and I widened my circle, going out in a spiral further and further from the house. I cupped my mouth with my hands and shouted for her, but the thunder drowned out my voice.
My hand reached out, trying to gather the magical energy crackling through the storm, to harness it and turn it into lightning. But it slipped through my fingers, twisting away from me to fade into the night, like always. Fucking useless. Can’t even save Eve using the most simple magic.
My chest heaved with frantic pants. Vision of her hurt or dead flashed through my mind.
I needed her to be well. I needed her. Just the thought of practical, kind, innocent Eve alone and without any help sent a lance through my heart.
Why had I all but avoided her this past week? Why was I so foolish, so stupid?
What a fucking idiot.
I paused mid air, hovering over the ruins of an old outbuilding, trying to think. I had mentioned taking her to see the overlook. But hadn’t I told her the path was treacherous, especially to anyone who hadn’t been there before? Or had I merely thought it?
Curse my lack of speech! Had I grown so taciturn and musty that I put my housekeeper, my Eve, in danger?
I shot through the rain, squinting to keep the water from blurring my vision. The torrents pounded my back, made worse by the speed of my flight. The drops wicked off my wings for now, but over time they would grow waterlogged and heavy.
“Eve!” I called for her, over and over, praying to every saint and every god and every star in both of our heavens I’d find her alive and well.
A thin sound drifted up to me amidst the rainfall. My wings snapped wide, and I halted so fast my feet swung forward. “Eve?”
“Down here!”
Relief nearly made me weep. “I’m coming!
Don’t move, starlight, I’ll be right there.
” I folded my wings and dropped like a stone.
Through the darkness I could see her—huddled and shivering on the ground.
Knees tucked up under her chin and hair plastered to her cheeks and neck.
Lightning flashed, illuminating the fear etched on her face and the whites of her eyes.
I landed beside her and reached for her. My wings spread around her, sheltering her from the worst of the barrage of water. “I have you now.”
Her teeth chattered and she leaned into me. “H-h-how are you w-w-warm?”
I wrapped her in my arms, drawing her against my bare chest. Icy droplets trickled down my skin, but I ignored it because the only thing that mattered was Eve. “Why are you here?”
“I wanted to explore.” Her head rested against my collarbone, and her lips moved against my skin. The honed agony in my chest eased. The ayim slowed in my body, releasing its frantic pulse.
Sharp sensation sparked through me at her touch, so strong it could’ve been either pleasure or pain. I welcomed it. “We’re getting you home,” I murmured in her ear.
She tried to nod, but her entire body shook.
I tucked one arm under her knees and the other around her back and lifted into the air. “Hold on, starlight.”
“I w-wanted to f-fly.” Her voice vibrated against my chest. “B-but not like th-this.”
“Shhh.” I buried my face in her soaked hair, breathing in the sweet scent. “Not another word until we get you safe and warm.”
She shifted, wrapping one arm around my neck, and snuggled in tighter.
My heart warmed. I forced myself to lift my face and look ahead. Mirkwold loomed ahead, not far at all by flight. I ignored the open window in the servants’ wing and dropped onto my balcony.
Eve tried to slide down my body, to set her feet on the balcony floor, but I tightened my grip. “Not until we’re inside.”
I shoved open the doors, heedless of the water we brought inside with us.
I kicked the door shut behind us and strode to the fireplace.
It was unlit, as I rarely needed it. I set her on the floor in front of the hearth, then moved to her side to gather kindling and matches.
I kept one wing draped around her. My panic had eased when I found her, but I was by no means calm.
As soon as the fire was lit I turned to face her. “We need to get you warm,” I growled.
She nodded, rocking backward. She brushed against the sensitive underside of my wings, and I gritted my teeth against the overwhelming sensation.
Eve cried out suddenly, reaching downward.
I instantly reached for her. “Where does it hurt? What happened?”
She bit her lip, face screwed in pain even as she continued to shake from the cold. “I fell a few times. Once the rain started it was slippery, and I stepped in a hole.”
I knelt further before her and my hands went to her ankle. I gently slipped her shoe and sock off and cradled the swelling limb. It was already twice the size, and I imagined the bruising started so deep we wouldn’t see it turn black and blue for a day or two.
She hissed in pain, and I grimaced in sympathy. Humans were so delicate. I wanted to wrap her in silk and set her somewhere safe, somewhere nothing could ever harm her again.
“I’ll be gentle,” I promised, and rotated her ankle.
Her knuckles went white as she gripped her skirts, and a strangled sound emerged from pale lips.
I stopped. “It looks like a bad sprain. You’ll have to stay off it for a few days, I think. Depending on how fast humans heal.”
Two tears leaked from her eyes. My heart clenched, and I reached up to wipe them away.
Sharp burning pain ate at my fingertip. It was so sudden and unexpected I nearly jerked my hand away. My finger burned like it was on fire.
I had never touched a human’s tears before. Bracing against the pain, I controlled my expression and wiped the other tear away. “Shhh,” I told her. “You’re safe now.”
She nodded, eyes shut.
Surreptitiously, I glanced at the tip of my thumb and index finger. The sensitive skin was red, shiny, and puckered, as if I’d stuck those fingers into a fire.
Shoving the pain away, I attempted to focus on Eve. I’d heal in a day. I didn’t know about her. With my uninjured hand I gently traced the pattern the wet sock had pressed into her skin. She was so soft.
Her teeth clacked together, bringing me back to my fear.
“We need to get you undressed.”
The words were innocent, my intent purely practical, but her eyes flew open.
“I’d leave,” I offered, eyeing her wet clothing. “But I don’t think you can do it yourself.” Her dress, plastered to her skin, had the knots and fastenings waterlogged and too swollen to easily pry apart.
“J-j-just hurry,” she choked, eyes turning shiny as she tried to turn to her side to allow me better access.
I quickly stripped her, trying to be careful for the sake of her ankle and other bruises I’m sure were forming. Her skin, pale and bluish, emerged as I pulled layer after layer off her. My hands spanned her ribs, and she shivered beneath me. Goosebumps speckled her skin, clammy and eerily white.
Hastily, I pulled her tight against me, draping one wing around her to trap the heat, and reached for a folded blanket on the edge of the table. The carpet beneath us was soft on my knees, and I hope hers, as well.
Her wet hair clung to my skin, and I let her burrow close and tuck her head under my chin. Her key necklace pressed into my sternum. My grip on her tightened, and the wounded skin on my fingers screeched in protest.
“S-s-so cold,” she chattered.